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Elimera Kuldrunedar
Description and Personality Standing at 4 feet, Elimera looks rather frail for a dwarf. Although she is strong for her size, she relies more on her quickness and agile manuvering. Her most distinguishing feature is her long thick hair the color of the deepest richest wood, usually done in a braid to keep it out of the way. Even though she could never claim to be a beauty, her features are sweet enough to be pleasing, especially when she smiled. True to her Druidic teachings, she is clad in simple leather armor, boots, gloves, and cloak. From her druid mentor Cassera she has learned to wield powerful magic both healing and damaging. Balkra the tigress remains by her side as a constant companion as well as faithful mount. But her most devestating weapon remains the longbow, with which she trained as a ranger for a decade before becoming a druid. Elimera is a host of many principles, often times contradictory to one another. Her Dwarven roots gave her a fierce devotion to and an unstoppable urge to protect her people and her family, no matter who or what they faced. That ideal ran contrary to her druidic teachings that everything in life must be in balance and a druid does not take sides unless it is to restore that delicate balance of life. Her ranger training has honed her skills as a killer while she abhors the taking of lives, even to uphold the all important balance. Perhaps that gentler nature spawned from a loving family who protected and sheltered her from all the evil and cruelty in the world. Early Life The youngest daughter of five children, Elimera Kuldrunedar was doted on by her parents and her four older brothers. She was a restless child, forever chasing after one or another of her brothers. Her life changed the day she accidentally stumbled upon an abandoned tunnel leading to the woods outside. Once Elimera laid eyes on the beauty outside of the underground fortress of Tardek that was her home, she knew she wanted nothing more than to live under the vastness of the sky, with the sights and smells of the trees, flowers and grass ever present. The fact that this ran contrary to the upbringing and tradition of the dwarves did not elude her or her family. Hadrig Kuldrunedar, a smith, being acquainted with many soldiers and warriors, sought out Grundol Vultharn, his ranger friend, to teach his daughter the ways of the woods above, hoping to satisfy her unconventional fascination. After ten years of training under her teacher, Elimera was set on her last trial to becoming a full fledged ranger. She was to track a fierce predator in the forest and bring back a trophy as proof of her skill. Elimera spent days looking for the right prey until she came across the tracks of a large tiger. She spent the next few days following its tracks and staying downwind until she found an opportunity for her move. This was a rarely seen white tiger and the kill would affirm her skills as a ranger. Elimera nocked her longbow with an arrow slowly and silently. She had always preferred the use of bows rather than crossbows because she prided herself on her skills. After careful aim for a clean kill, she lets loose her arrow. In the blink of the eye, her arrow had been snatched from mid-air by suddenly growing plants. Wide-eyed with disblief, Elimera watched as a slender elf maiden walked out into the open from behind the beast. "Not bad for one so young," one hand upon the flank of her tiger, she beckoned Elimera to show herself with the other. That was when a mesmerized Elimera met Cassera, an elven druid and Taural, her animal companion. After seeing Elimera's love of nature and her ease in the woods, Cassera offered to teach her the ways of the druids. Elimera was delighted to be given such a rare opportunity. Her family, however, was not as happy to give up their youngest to a life in the forest. Eventually, Elimera's happiness was more important to them than their own and she was allowed to go train in the Vuddrrin Forest. Elimera spent may years under the tutelage of Cassera and her circle of druids. As she neared the end of her training, Elimera was presented with the choice of any cub from Taural's last litter of four as an animal companion. After their weaning, Elimera chose the runt of the litter and named her Balkra. It was more than two years before Balkra was fully grown and bonded to Elimera. The Journey Just as Elimera finished her training with Cassera, she heard news of trouble in her beloved Tardek as well as the rest of Meridia. Cassera came to inform her that great evil has clouded Meridia. Dragons have appeared and taken over many cities with little resistance, including Meridia itself. Cassera was summoned by special invitation to help a group of old and new heros rid the world of this threat but, as she rarely ventured out of the grove or take an interest in the rest of the world anymore, felt Elimera would be better suited to the task. Elimera packed for the journey and started out north to Gorgon Bay where she would meet and join up with other like-minded individuals intent on restoring Meridia to the peaceful world it once was.